SLA suspends all CDMA phone connections in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Tele Communication (SLTC) in Jaffna suspended all Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) wireless phone service to nearly 7,000 customers as per instructions by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna due to security reasons, SLTC sources in Jaffna said. Even the limited CDMA phone service to Courts and government departments have been suspended.

SLTC in Jaffna first made available CDMA phone service to 7,000 applicants in 2007 who had managed to obtain clearance from their local SLA authorities amidst great restrictions and difficulties.

This phone service had been suspended for the last two months and now the SLTC has been instructed by the SLA to renew service to these customers only on permission given to them by their local police authorities.

The customers have to obtain a form from the SLTC, fill it, and present it to their local police authorities to obtain clearance according to the newly imposed condition.

Though there is no mechanical failure in the system the CDMA phone service in Jaffna peninsula is being suspended purely due to SLA directive citing security reasons, a SLTC official in Jaffna who wishes not to be named, said.

Less than a hundred CDMA phone connections made available to Courts and government departments in Jaffna peninsula too have been completely suspended by the SLTC in the last two weeks.

The customers who had to go through great difficulties and official restrictions to obtain CDMA phones have to experience similar inconvenience again due to the newly imposed SLA restriction.